Republicans pull Supreme Court into cage match over thousands of votes in Pennsylvania 

WASHINGTON (CN) — Republicans asked the Supreme Court for emergency intervention on Monday to prevent thousands of Pennsylvania voters from casting ballots that could swing the 2024 presidential election. 

The Republican National Committee requested a stay blocking voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected from casting provisional ballots at in-person polling places. Pennsylvania’s high court upheld the second-chance measure last week, but the committee claims the “cure process for mail-ballot errors” directly conflicts with the Legislature’s authority over election administration. 

“Because Pennsylvanians voting by mail already often get pre-election notice of mail-ballot errors, tens of thousands of provisional votes that are flatly illegal under the Election Code are likely to be counted,” the committee wrote in an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. “That outcome risks tainting — or even flipping — the result of one or more elections in Pennsylvania, including its statewide U.S. Senate race or even the nationwide Presidential Election. That is an unacceptable result by any measure.” 

Butler County refused to count provisional ballots from two voters during the 2024 primary after they submitted mail ballots without secrecy envelopes, which conceal ballots from election workers. Mail-in ballots can also be rejected for lacking a signature or date. 

Provisional voting is available if a person’s eligibility is in question, allowing them to fill out a ballot that will only be counted once their eligibility is confirmed. 

The state Supreme Court concluded that because the mail-in ballots were rejected — and therefore not received and counted — voters are eligible to cast a provisional ballot on Election Day. 

The RNC said a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court would preserve the status quo with only a little over a week until Election Day. The committee warned that upholding the state high court ruling would “liberate state courts to invalidate federal election rules with impunity.” 

As a backstop, Republicans suggested that the justices order the provisional ballots in question be segregated from all other ballots and not included in the official vote tally to be further litigated. Once the ballots are counted, Republican’s challenge would be moot. 

The RNC advanced a version of the independent legislature theory rejected by the justices in Moore v. Harper in 2023. While the court ruled out unchecked legislative power over elections, the justices retained their own authority to enter similar disputes. 

The committee pushed the justices to seize on that power here. 

“If this court fails to act in the face of such egregious judicial usurpation, Moore’s promised enforcement of the elections and electors clauses will become a dead letter that state courts can safely ignore,” the committee wrote. 

Also on Monday, Virginia asked the Supreme Court to toss 1,600 voters from registration rolls. 

While voters have expressed some optimism about election integrity in 2024, 80% of voters reported concerns about the Supreme Court’s ability to remain neutral in post-election litigation. 

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